Defence Force Families

Rustysgirl - I'm glad you will be going to Adelaide to be with your family. That's what I'm doing - well going to Brisbane to be with my family. We live in Sydney at the moment and I don't know anyone, so it would be horrible to be stuck here. My DH is going to the HQ's near Afghanistan - leaving on Tuesday (my birthday) and will be due back the day before our baby is due! We went to a function the other night and were sitting on a table with Nigel Coates (Navy Fleet Commander) and he told me to contact him if there was anything I needed while DH was away. I said "just make sure he is back in time for the baby!" :lol:

Well I've had my first real dealings with DHA. We lived in one DHA house for 6 weeks but the other houses have been RA. We found a place on Homefind in Brisbane and DH had lots of trouble contacting the lady we were supposed to be dealing with. I made him keep calling her and just as I did, because it turns out that he needs to sign the lease even though I'm Power of Attorney and he is just about to leave the country and then spend 3 weeks touring Afghanistan!!

Hi all, I am new here. My partner is in the Army and deploying to the ghan next year. I have recently relocated to Canberra to be close to family whilst he is away.

Having the usual DHA drama of very little housing being available but I am trying homefind constantly.

Are there any Canberra meet ups for defence partners?

Look forward to chatting with you :)

Hello and welcome to BB - I'm sure you will find plenty of support here.

It's worth contacting DCO re meetups - while I was there I was constantly on their case about having regular (keyword REGULAR) meetups for spouses, I hope they finally got the message. There are morning teas at the Chapel on Duntroon on a regular basis, if you're army it's worth popping in there a couple of times to find out what else is going on. There are also some meetups in Gunghalin & Belconnen way, can't remember but I think some of them are playgroups and some are crafty type things.

Key thing with deployments - do *not* sit at home and wait for the support to come to you. It won't. Esp in Canberra as there aren't any large units that deploy from there so you are likely to fall through the cracks. First time my DH was deployed I didn't get a phone call from anyone (DCO, unit, anyone) until after he'd been home for 2 weeks. :p I suggest you find out who the welfare officer is in your DH's unit and make phone contact, at least then you have someone you can ring if you're faced with any kind of crisis.

So good that you will be close to family - I'm sure that has been a very wise move. :)

Hi Ladies,

Noticed there hasn't been any posts in here for a while so I hope the thread's still going!

Anyhow, Hi, i'm Renata - we're a Defence family. My DH has been in the Army for 8 years now. We're both from Sydney and have been unbelievably lucky to have been able to stay here the entire time. DH was at the same unit for 7 years and corp transferred last year only to receive another 3 yr posting to Holsworthy so we're hoping for Brissie after this one! Love Sydney but a change would be great.

Lots of our friends have posted out this year so this year i'll be trying to meet some new ppl again. So if anyone's in Holsworthy and want to meet up, give me a yell!

We have a 5yr old son startin kindergarten this year, 2.5yr old twins (boy/girl) and one on the way (due July).

Hope everyone's well, had a great xmas and if your partners are deployed, hoping they're all safe and well.

Ren

Hi Renata :)

It is very lucky that you have been able to stay in Sydney! I am from Brisbane and would love to stay here, but unfortunately there are no Navy jobs here :( Maybe DH should transfer to Army so he can be at Ennogerra :lol:

My DH is over in the middle east, and I am in Brisbane to be close to family, although DH will be back in 8 weeks and our first baby is due in 10 weeks :D

I know what you mean about having to meet new people, but I think the Army is pretty good at that. There are a lot of things happening on base here, including craft, mums n bubs and playgroup. Everyone is really friendly too, but I think being in the minority here (Navy) makes it a bit different.

Anyway, hope you meet lots of new people :)

Nat.

I guess I should pop my head back in here :)

Im Anna, my DH is currently posted to holsworthy/sydney for the next few years after being in Townsville. Im from Sydney; and the reason why he is here as we separated in June last year and I came home to be close to family/friends so he followed. We've since reconciled and are awaiting DHA to get off their lazy butts and give us homefind access so we can move back in together.

Ive never been an army wife with kids in Sydney, only an army child so this is new to me.

Hi ladies,

I am an Army wife with DH posted at Holsworthy. We don't live in Holsworthy, rather in Bexley. I work at Stanmore and wasn't so keen on the huge drive from Holsworthy to Stanmore every day so we moved closer in. Also, my family lives near us :D I am not sure what's at Holsworthy base for families as my son is only 6 and a half months old, so if you find anything good out, let me know :D

HI Ladies,

Please excuse bad punctuation I am bf my daughter while I try and type...

Im in the Army but posted to Richmond Raaf atm and dh is Army at Moorebank, we are both RAE and we live at Glenmore Park which is in the middle of both of our bases. Im on 1 year off atm as we just had our first baby which is a def benefit in the defence force...Is anyone out near me? I feel like im in the sticks as most ppl I know in Sydney are at Holsworthy..

Great to see a defence thread!

HI Natty

We are in Townsville at the moment but we will see what happens this coming posting cycle (end of year)

DH is away again and at this stage I have no idea when he will be home. He called me just a few minutes ago because he melted his Dress shirt, just in time for Anzac day :( He wanted to know if I had enough $$ for a new shirt in my account :wall:

Hi were not a defence family but DP is thinking of joing the defence forces and Im wondering what are the pros and cons from a family point of view.
Thanks guys

Pros:

Cheap rent (and a big enough house for larger families ;))
Seeing the country for free
Meeting lots of new people
Job Security
Allowances
Family centre on base (here anyway is great)
Paid Holidays when you are living in more remote localities

Cons:

Moving when you just got settled
Defence Housing (they can be very painful)
Taking you away from your support networks and then taking DP away.
Not having the choice in where you move.

Personally there are a lot of sacrifices, and it takes a strong woman to be a defence partner, but having been a single mum before I know that you will cope well. I like to think of it in the way that I am making to sacrifices to ensure my kids grow up in a free country.

It is completely different in terms of lifestyle from anything else. I am enjoying the lifestyle though, it can be tough but it gives us the freedom to explore whereas if DH wasn't in the Army we probably would never have been able to afford the amount of travel we do.

Main cons - being dragged across the country frequently on their whim and then having to face major life challenges on your lonesome while your partner is off in the bush/overseas for months at a time. Oh yeah, and the infuriating way Defence complicates even the simplest of life processes.

Pros - Moving around, broadening your life experience, rental rebate, warlike allowances are good (but all the other away-from-home allowances are pretty sad), free medical & dental (with exclusions) for the member only.

The main "myths" of defence life: that there is any glory or recognition in it at all. That housing and medical is free. That you don't pay for your electricity...ummmm...what else? That defence supports defence families while their partners are off at war ...oh...and here's the biggie - that the unit sends someone around to mow your lawn etc while your man is away :rofl:.

Some localities have free medical and dental for familes. Up to $300 per year per person for dental and unlimited medical. It's the defence health trial. Medical only covers GP costs. Fingers crossed it becomes a permanent fixture, about a third of the families here have signed up for it.

Erm the one thing I will clarify...........you wont be entitled to a big enough house for a large family. For your age gaps and sex's, youll be in a 3 bedder like the rest of us. Thats the only sucky part I can think of. Unless you get someone nice at DHA and thats a long shot but does happen.

The biggest most important perk for us is financial security and a decent wage.

Financial security is a big one.
If he chooses the right job then he will be set up for when he wants to leave. That's really something to consider before going in. Recruiting will say just get in and u can transfer into whatever but it isn't as easy as they make it seem.
Dh and I have made some awesome friends.
The housing is generally pretty good. For south west Sydney there is an awesome facebook page that has helped lots of women meet others in the area and suss things out before they get here.
Plus I feel a real sense of pride in what dh does. I'm so proud of him.

Freya I have heard rumours that they are making the minimums for families 4 bedders sometime soon. Have you heard anything like that?

hello, im a defence member aswell Dh has been in just over 12 mths, we were posted to Darwin its lovely here we applied to live outside entitlement as there was only only apartment and on base at Berrimah which they were pretty shabby, we are living in a new estate 4 bedder air con and yard its a really nice house, few issues with some of the air cons and its takes forever for DHA to fix them ( they told me not to use them till their fixed) impossible here in darwin.
i too get a bit bored looking forward to the dry season which should of already arrived but hasnt yet :(

its great to see a defence thread. :D

2017 Ali so a looooooooooong way off.

Ive also heard rumours of them disbanding DHA and military housing and making us all go RA

I believe the first, but not the second. I have a friend with 4 kids under 5, 3 boys 1 girl and they are forcing them to stay living in a 3bedder! No way can a family of 6 live comfortably like that I dont care what they say. And yet I know of tons of families with 2 kids or less in 4bedders just on luck (and sometimes because they whinge enough). Im really starting to get sick and tired of DHA. Apparently they are in alot of strife anyway :shhh: